The View from Monday: New Titles Available in April

It’s April and it’s snowing outside my office here in New England as I write this. The weather may be unpredictable, but it makes us all happy to know that the publishing schedule stays on course no matter what the weather. So, get your list made and venture out into what they tell us is Spring and visit your favorite local bookstore or library for some of these new arrivals!

A perfect book for Spring, it’s time to get out and recreate! It’s an important rite of passage, that first bike, first helmet and first successful ride, but before the success there may be a bit of trial and error. Caldecott Award Winning Author and Illustrator Chris Raschka captures all of the moments of this experience, ups, downs, hard work, and ultimately the joy of riding a bike and shares them with young readers, riders and their families.

With no words at all Bob Staake has created a masterpiece of picture book art. A bluebird soars through a city and many different landscapes all the while delivering a gentle message about loneliness, bullying and the importance of friendship. Bob won a NYTimes Best Illustrated Award for The Red Lemon, and his art can frequently be seen on the cover of The New Yorker too. The perfect book for kids, families and grownups, too.

Sooner or later everyone has their first beach experience, and today it’s Taffy Saltwater’s turn. She’s off to the beach with a wacky group of friends, hoping to build not just a sand castle, but a sand palace. They find a spot on the beach and get to work, but Rollo the beach ball gets carried away by the wind and Tammy and her friends have to marshal their resources and rescue him. Taffy and her friends may get a little more than they bargained for on their first adventure at the beach but the day ends happily for all, and their sand palace is magnificent too.

In his fifth book, our favorite phobic friend is back, and of course there’s more to worry about. Alvin’s Mom is having a baby, and babies come with lots of scary things to think about. Believe it or not Alvin is so worried about this new addition to his family that he develops a sympathetic pregnancy! Eventually his family realizes what’s going on for him and comes to the rescue with love and understanding and an appropriate sense of humor.

Zarita isn’t the best math student, but there’s a chance she can earn some extra credit if she takes care of the class ferret for the weekend. What could possibly go wrong? Well, when author Patrick Jennings, (Guinea Dogand Lucky Cap) is writing your story lots of things can go wrong, and in the most hilarious way. Once the ferret ecsapes and Zarita might not have been completely honest about how it got out…….well, the excuses just grow. A funny and smart story.

If you’re a fan of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, then this is the book for you! When first we meet our heroine Jemma, she is being held captive in Castle Agromond, but she is destined for bigger things. Accompanied by her telepathic golden rats, and in a world filled with ghosts and misfits, a mysterious book and an ancient prophecy will guide her along the dangerous path to discovering who she really is, what powers she has and how she will be the one to bring back peace to her beloved Anglavia.

Rump has been told “your name is your destiny” in his world, and with a name like Rump he fears that that destiny will be nothing more than a joke. You see, his mother died before she could tell him his true name, and his life is pretty tough. Until he realizes that he can spin straw into gold that is. Can he use this magical gift for good, or will he be tempted to use it for selfish gain? In this charming and exciting re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin story we just may see this character in a new and possibly heroic light this time.

Tim Tharp has written about football inKnights of the Hill Country, and his novel The Spectacular Nowwas nominated for a National Book Award, and made into a movie that will be released soon, so what’s next for this versatile author? Why a mystery, of course. Our protagonist wants “mojo”, in other words respect, but he doesn’t seem to be getting it through the usual channels, so he takes his “crime drama skills” and embarks on an investigation of his own. But searching for a girl missing from an elite private school may be more difficult than his “skills” have prepared him for, and he may just have gotten himself in too deep. Will the possible respect he might earn be worth it?

In this fast paced “ripped from the headlines” novel we find an American boy and his Chinese friend on a desperate search for her kidnapped father. They are on their own in Hong Kong and China and they only have nine days to find him. Based on a real Chinese family who were part of the Chinese Democracy Movement and inspired this story.

Thanks for joining us today at RAoR, we hope you’ve got many new titles to add to your list for that next visit to the bookstore or library.